“The wheat is no good for flour. We can only sell it for feed now,” Scism said. “We won’t make back the money we put into the crops.”

This spring and summer, North Carolina and the rest of the east coast has seen more rain than normal.

Scism, who has 15 miles of crops in Cleveland County and into southern Gaston County, is a fourth-generation farmer, and he has never seen so much rain this time of year.

“We have had solid rain for six weeks,” he said. “My daddy is 76 and he has never seen it this rainy. I have talked to farmers in Delaware and Alabama. Everyone along the east coast is having the same problem.”

While the rain has kept summer temperatures unseasonably cool, it is destroying crops.

'We can't cut the wheat'

By the Fourth of July, local farmers usually have wheat harvested and soybeans planted, according to local agriculture experts. This year, the wheat remains in the ground.

“The soil is too soft and the moisture level in the grain is too high to harvest crops,” said Steve Gibson, who works with the local Cooperative Extension. “Some farmers have wheat dryers, but there are limits at how wet the grain can be.”

The amount of moisture in the wheat must be 14 percent or less for the wheat to be cut.

“If the moisture level is too high, we can’t cut the wheat,” Scism said. “I paid $700 for trucks to take my wheat to be sold. The moisture was too high and the trucks were sent back.”

The Cleveland County-based Farm Service Agency is reporting a 20 to 25-percent loss for the county this year in wheat crops, said Bryon McMurray, who works with the agency.

'We'll do the best we can to get by'

Most farmers will be planting their soybeans a month late, which will also hurt the soybean crops.

“The soybean harvest hinges on first frost,” McMurray said.

The Farm Service Agency gathers data from farmers in the county and reports the information to the state so it can be determined if Cleveland County can be declared as in a state of emergency for crops, he said.

“2013 was set to be a banner year for wheat, judging from early yields, but then the rain came and changed everything,” McMurray said. “Quality has also been affected from funguses. We are still waiting to see what the total loss will be for the county.”

Page 2 of 2 - The state is now phasing out federal disaster assistance and encouraging farmers to get crop insurance, McMurray said.

The disaster assistance would issue low-interest loans if farmers needed money to put into their next crop. However, this year there have been no mentions of disaster money being issued, McMurray said.

"The midwest has suffered from droughts and they haven't had diaster money issued," he said. "With the economy like it is, it's not happening here either."

However, crop insurance is complicated, Scism said.

“Farming is my only source of income,” he said. “We aren’t going to break even. But we’ll do the best we can to get by this year.”

Reach Jessica Pickens at 704-669-3332 or jpickens@shelbystar.com. Follow on Twitter at @StarJPickens.

Average Price received by farmers for Hard Red Winter Wheat:

January: $8.02

February: $7.75

March: $7.50

April: $7.71

May: $7.56

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Harvested acreage for Hard Red Winter Wheat:

Planted acreage for 2013-14: 29.35

Harvest acreage for 2013-14: 20.33

*Per million acres

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

How is too much rain hurting crops?

-Wheat is too moist to cut.

-Seeds at the top of the wheat are breaking and growing roots, affecting the starches and taste of the wheat.

-Berry crops froze during late frosts in spring.

-The rain affected the sugar development in berries, affecting their taste.

Source: Farm Agency Service of Cleveland County

Why all the rain?

-Temperatures have only reached 90 degrees twice in July.

-The moisture that hasn’t been drying on the ground generates moisture in the air, creating clouds and bringing more rainfall.